Customer Reviews

A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in Vietnam, 1965-1972

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I've read many books on Vietnam and this is the best yet if you are interested in the real life of the grunts. A very down to earth and human look at the Vietnam experience. From prior to induction to return home. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the real nitty gritty of the average guy in Vietnam. As I said, best I've ever read!!!

When I first started researching the Vietman war, I happened to come across this book at the library--exactly what I was looking for since I wanted to understand the individual experience of the infantryman. I had been warned by veterans that a lot of inaccurate books were out there, and since the writer's credentials were simply that he was a high school teacher, I first read it with a somewhat skeptical eye. As I continued to read memoirs and histories and speak with veterans, though, I also kept coming back to this book. Finally I just broke down and bought it. Though I've only spot read various passages throughout the book, it is even-handed, always rings true, is consistent with other information I've gotten, and offers factual information to set things in context (I wish there was a little more of that). Ebert has done a great job getting vets to talk--not always easy--now maybe he should create an updated edition to flesh out the coming home aspects. I hope this author still teaches high school.

Those who have read history about the Vietnam War are kidding themselves if they don't include "A Life in a Year--." This is the war as seen through the eyes of the lowest common denominator--the "grunt." Having served in the infantry in Vietnam and trusting Ebert's editing of what was individual braggadocio by some interviewees, I think this is an accurate portrayal of what Vietnam was like for thousands of soldiers and marines. Nothing fancy, nothing cute, nothing outlandish--just like really being there day in and day out. Straight shooting from basic to the freedom bird. If this was required reading before Vietnam I am not so sure the volunteer rate would have been as high as it was--but then we had to live Vietnam so such a book could be written.

I would give this book more than 5 stars if possible. Wisconsin high school teacher James R. Ebert does a masterful job as he combines interviews and printed primary sources in this remarkable telling of the infantryman's experience during the Vietnam War. Ebert tells the story of the US Army and a few US Marine infantrymen during the Vietnam War. He takes their story from induction into the service through basic and advanced individual training, arrival in Vietnam, their first combat experiences, the first killed in action they experience, in some cases the soldier's death, and the freedom birds that take them back to the world. Ebert points out while infantryman accounted for less than 10% of the American troops in Vietnam, the infantry suffered more than 80% of the losses.

Ebert uses an interesting technique starting every chapter with a letter by Leonard Dutcher to his parents. Dutcher just wanted to do his part for God and country and go home at the end of his tour. In the last chapter, we find out that Dutcher was killed. It caught me off guard and really added to the impact of the book. Ebert takes many of the soldiers and Marines experiences word for word from the individual himself through interviews or letters. It is a collective look at similarities of the many infantry soldiers and Marines in the war. It is a very personal account from many points of view.

This is an important book in Vietnam War literature. This is what the grunts really went through. I was left with somewhat of feeling of guilt from reading the book. Why? I graduated high school in 1971. Some of my high classmates went to Vietnam and fought. My classmate Everett Maxwell was killed in action. I went to college and was ultimately commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry, went through airborne school and served three years active duty. My becoming an officer deferred my entry on active duty from 1971 to 1975. This is the reason for my reflective thoughts.

Read and reviewed by Jimmie A. Kepler.

Do you want to understand what a grunt went through in vietnam?

Then read this book. By far the best book that I have read on the Vietnam War. After reading this book, every American should thank the Vietnam Veteran for their service to our Nation.

This is the best book by far. You get to "meet" these boys from the very beginning of their military life all the way through their hell in Vietnam. You can't help but get attached and you're cheering them on in the most horrible of circumstances. I watched the war on TV every night back then and didn't realize how much more brutal it really was. This book will open your eyes and give you a newfound respect for these teenagers caught up in one of America's worst & bloodiest wars. These are the heros that were never given a "Welcome Home". It's a must read...it will change your life.

When I first started researching the Vietman war, I happened to come across this book at the library--exactly what I was looking for since I wanted to understand the individual experience of the infantryman. I had been warned by veterans that a lot of inaccurate books were out there, and since the writer's credentials were simply that he was a high school teacher, I first read it with a somewhat skeptical eye. As I continued to read memoirs and histories and speak with veterans, though, I also kept coming back to this book. Finally I just broke down and bought it. Though I've only spot read various passages throughout the book, it is even-handed, always rings true, is consistent with other information I've gotten, and offers factual information to set things in context (I wish there were a little more of that). Ebert has done a great job getting vets to talk--not always easy--now maybe he should create an updated edition to flesh out the coming home aspects. I hope this author still teaches high school.

Gripping from the start. Made me feel like I'd been there. One of the most absorbing books on Vietnam I've ever read! You could almost see every situation, from why they went, to the places they had been. The ending was a chilling reminder of what war really costs.

I noticed there is not a recent review of this book which is why I am writing this one. It is a classic. It is simple and direct and the many short excerpts of interviews of men who servied in Vietnam are graphic and sometimes overpowering. I found this book in our local library and will now buy it for my collection and for my children and grandchildren to read. In addition to the depictions of what infantry combat is truly like, what impressed me most was the overriding theme that Vietnam was a war without clear military objecives. There were no cities to liberate, no islands to capture, no real enemy to defeat. It was a year in the bush and out. The men who fought there were denied the incentive of a battle won, an objective taken, an end of game. They were the objective.

This book was one that I had the most difficult time putting down each night. It was so well put together. Beginning each chapter with the letter home from the soldier who was eventually killed was an extraordinary way of introducing each of the chapters.